LEWISTON – As Butch Dow watched a high-powered Brunswick team move the ball and score at will against a previous Lewiston varsity team, he knew changes needed to be made.

He was the junior varsity coach at the time and immediately began to stress the importance of passing and moving the ball effectively as a team.

“I knew we needed to start it now,” Dow said. “I planned on starting that feeder program so we’d have that passing. I started doing that, and we were getting better.”

Then came a coaching change at the varsity level last spring. Dow was suddenly the new coach, and he brought his new style of play with him. It made an immediate impression.

“When I became the head coach, my first game was against Brunswick,” Dow said. “We scored three quick goals on them. They didn’t understand what was going on. They called a timeout. I was like ‘Good, now (our players will) buy into it.’”

Lewiston has done just that and has produced a 10-2 record to show for it. The Blue Devils enter the Eastern A tourney seeded third and excited about the opportunity ahead. They host sixth-ranked Windham (7-5) Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Bates College.

“We want to get past the first round of playoffs,” senior defender Emily Paione said. “That’s our goal. I think we can do it. As a team, we are talking better. We’ve been practicing more and know what each person does. So I think we’re more of a team now than we have been.”

Lewiston lost in the first round last year and none of the current roster has ever won a playoff game. As the Devils have built their passing game this year, they’ve also become more seasoned and confident in what they can accomplish.

“As long as we keep our focus,” senior defender Sadie Poulin said. “If we play our game, we can do well. As long as we are on point with all the things we’ve worked on in practice. If we keep ourselves confident and keep working hard in the game, I think we can do it.”

When Dow took over the team last year, it was a smooth transition. He had coached most of the players already at the JV level.

By being able to implement the kind of passing attack he wanted last year, it allowed the team to pick up from where it left off when this campaign began.

“Butch says it all the time, ‘Passing, passing,’ but that’s true,” junior goalie Sam Cote said. “It works. We haven’t always done that. We used to run plays and stuff, but now it’s more teamwork. I think the team likes each other more than it has and we work well together. I think we’re working more as a team than we ever have in my memory.”

Lewiston opened the season with wins over Edward Little and Cony, scoring 24 goals in the two games.

After a 10-9 loss to Brunswick, Lewiston went 8-1 the rest of the way. The only setback was a 16-6 loss to Messalonskee, a team that defeated the Blue Devils again Saturday 18-10 in the KVAC game.

“It gave us a lot of confidence,” Paione said of the early wins. “We had to really get ourselves ready, and we knew those were big games for us. So we knew we needed to win.”

Lewiston finished the season scoring 149 goals overall and allowing just 53 over those final seven games, including a 12-9 win over Brunswick.

“I think we definitely have the chance,” Cote said. “It’s anybody’s game. Teams have been beating other teams. There are teams we haven’t played that we may see in the playoffs. So I don’t know what to expect, but I think we have a chance.”

The team is motivated by its seven seniors, a group that would love to finish their lacrosse careers in a big way. But it may also mean Lewiston’s teamwork and passing game will get its greatest test of the season.

“We’ve had to work to earn most of our wins against teams that are in the playoffs,” said Dow. “So we know that playoffs are going to be a real tournament for us, and we’re going to have to work to get every win. I hope the girls understand that. I’ve been really trying to push it to them. I’m hoping the team that shows up each playoff game is going to be a team that wants to win and wants to earn that win.”

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